Editor's note: We used Cover It Live for this event, so if you missed the live blog, you can still replay it in the embedded component at the end of this post. Replaying the event will give you all the live updates along with commentary from our readers and CNET reporters. Or you can read the edited transcription below. And to get the key points from today's announcement, in which Barnes & Noble introduced the $249 Nook Tablet and reduced the prices for its Nook Color and Simple Touch, you can check out a summary story here. Click here for a hands-on review of the new tablet.

Barnes & Noble CEO William Lynch introduces the Nook Tablet before a crowd this morning at the company's Union Square store in Manhattan.
Sarah Tew/CNET
The new Nook lineup.
Sarah Tew/CNET

How much less expensive will the touch-based Nook get? Will the new Nook Color be significantly different from the existing one? And, will Barnes & Noble be able to offer the right types of content and value to compete with Amazon's intimidating cloud offerings in books, music, TV, and movies? Will it all unfold like recent rumors suggest, or will there be surprises?

9:43-47 a.m. ET: John Falcone: Hi everyone. Greetings from New York City, where we're waiting for Barnes & Noble to start its press conference. The real action is still 15-20 minutes away. Before we start, a recap--The Nook Color debuted last year around this same time and it was, at the time, a somewhat revolutionary product--a "reading tablet" that sold for 50 percent of the cost of an iPad. B&N later added a small curated app store to the device, which runs a custom version of Android and the device remained CNET's favorite sub-$300 tablet, even as more expensive Android models hit the stores.

9:48 a.m. ET: John Falcone: Scott Stein is on site, at the Barnes & Noble store in Union Square, Manhattan.. He's setting up now, and will be jumping in this chat soon. Sarah Tew will be handling photos.

9:54-55 a.m. ET: John Falcone: Also, the rumor specified that the Tablet would offer Netflix and Hulu Plus. So, while it's $50 more than the upcoming Kindle Fire (due next week). The Nook Tablet one-ups it w/ more storage, expansion, and some must-have apps. Amazon has been cagey on which apps will be on the Fire beyond Amazon's first-party stuff (Amazon Prime Video, Kindle books, Amazon Music, etc.)

9:54 a.m. ET: Scott Stein: It's an interesting debate: would you rather have a more storage-heavy tablet that you store stuff on, or a more cloud-connected tablet? That could be the Kindle Fire vs. Nook Color battle.

9:59 a.m. ET: Scott Stein: OK, lights are dimming. We were told to take our seats.

9:59 a.m. ET: John Falcone: FYI, this is the same space that B&N uses for author readings. I think I saw David Mamet there several years ago.

10:00-03 a.m. ET: Scott Stein: It's a nice space. Never been up here. Barnes & Noble CEO William Lynch on stage. Talking about B&N growing digital content. 27 percent of e-books sold in US from Barnes & Noble. Discussing Nook Simple Touch. Splash of review pull quotes, including CNET. Nook Color now. Quote from Bezos on screen. Trying to take some credit for being the first to the color e-reader game...Claiming largest catalog of color children's books.

10:09-11 a.m. ET: Scott Stein: Netflix recommendations pushed to home screen next to books and subscriptions. Baked-in. Claiming "No. 1 video service" with Netflix, and "No. 1 streaming music" with Pandora, and largest collection of comics, via Marvel. Some spin there. 2.5 million titles on the Nook store. In this day and age, selling Pandora as killer streaming music is a little hard to swallow. Can read and record via mic with children's books. You could have parents or grandparents record a reading to a book. Ok, kind of nice. Better to be there in person, though.

10:11 a.m. ET: John Falcone: Note that we don't yet know if the Kindle Fire will offer Pandora, Netflix, or Hulu Plus.

10:15-16 a.m. ET: Scott Stein: Now talking about always-free in-store support for the Nook. An Apple Store-type push.Running over the advantages now. "better display--superior viewing angle." Fully laminated display. Claiming Kindle Fire uses "off the shelf" display with an air gap, non-laminated. Said Kindle Fire is "deficient" as a media tablet. 7x more storage capacity...if you use the SD card.

10:21 a.m. ET: Scott Stein: It's definitely beating out most features on the Kindle Fire, spec by spec.

10:21-22 a.m. ET: John Falcone: We'll have to see if the extra RAM and CPU speeds helps performance. Interesting intangibles--B&N in-store service vs. Amazon Prime. Not included in "specs," but those will definitely factor into many buying decisions.

10:27 a.m. ET: John Falcone: Nice--they had to cut the price in advance of the launch of the Kindle Touch (also $99, coming November 21). Note that the Kindle Touch has support for MP3 and audio books, however; no audio on Nook Simple Touch [though I'm guessing most folks won't care]

10:30-31 a.m. ET: Scott Stein: Lynch back on stage, going over the lineup. $99, $199, $249. In stores beginning next week. Now going over the expanded Nook sections in B&N stores. Taking advantage of the large real estate and floor plans in B&N stores. This Barnes & Noble is the premiere space. Lots of hands-on areas. OK, so that's it.

10:32-34 a.m. ET: Scott Stein: No news on software updates, and as far as rooting your Nook, we'll have to see. B&N is certainly pushing how much content will be available even on a non-rooted one.Will be interesting to see how this performs. Definitely made a strong push on engineering and specs. Q&A coming up. Stick around.

10:35-36 a.m. ET: Scott Stein: The one feature I want: buy a physical book, get a code for an e-version. Come on. Should be like Blu-ray/DVDs. Q&A beginning. Q: what download media content options are there? Lynch: you can download your own movies and music and side load. If you have your own library, side load the way you do with photos. On the app side, the most popular services like Netflix are streaming. The integration of those two services will look better than on any other tablet.

10:36-37 a.m. ET: Scott Stein: Q: screen is 1024x600. why does full HD matter? A: streaming Netflix in 720p, looks great. That's what we say when we support HD entertainment.

10:38-39 a.m. ET: Scott Stein: Q from audience: you're betting shoppers will spend more for the storage. Are you aiming for the same audience as the Kindle Fire? Lynch: their device hasn't shipped yet. We haven't seen it yet. We want to be the most innovative company in digital reading. What we've done with our reader, interactive kids' books, those will be better. We'll be servicing core readers first. As relates to media services...the Kindle Fire is a vending machine for Amazon services. Valid business strategy, we'll see how it works out. We're partnering with apps like Netflix, Pandora...we'll let users choose. They'll look better than anyplace else. You'll see how fast Web-browsing is on this thing. We're more open.

10:40 a.m. ET: Scott Stein: Q: have you made improvements to the Nook Touch browser? A: Nook Simple Touch doesn't have a browser...it's about the reading experience. We focused on the reading experience and the price.

10:41-42 a.m. ET: Scott Stein: Q: bluetooth keyboards for the Nook Color? A: No Bluetooth. (Audience member: the Color does. Lynch: no, it has a Bluetooth module.) Iannone: magazines, comics, etc will be available via an update for Nook Color customers before the holidays.

10:44-46 a.m. ET: Scott Stein: Lynch: Android Gingerbread on new Nooks. No full access to Android marketplace. Lynch: "we think 6GB of memory on media tablets is not enough." Answering audience Q on what the advantages are. Of course, that was the whole press conference...Lynch: "understand, we designed this product to be pioneering. We're trying to lead, not follow." Largest campaign in Barnes & Noble history for the new Nook Tablet. James Patterson and other authors to be featured.

10:47-49 a.m. ET: Scott Stein: Bridget Carey asking about how the free update will work. Iannone: it will push automatically when it's ready. Customers buying devices today will get those features now. (on the new devices, of course) So, you'll get those new features right away on a new Nook Color/Tablet/Simple Touch, and by end of year if you wait for the software update.

10:54 a.m. ET: Scott Stein: Q: Android app marketplace is getting bigger. How can you take advantage? A: (Lynch) first and foremost, we want best experience on a 7-inch tablet. Shopping for apps can be a tough merchandizing experience. Do we see it opening up eventually? Maybe. Right now, top B&N apps are grossing a lot of money. Lynch acknowledges "we're looking at it."

10:55 a.m. ET: Scott Stein: OK, that's it. Thanks, everyone, for tuning in. Going to go look at one hands-on. Thanks Dan, John, Sarah, and Bridget...and all of you for following along.

About the author

Scott Stein is a senior editor covering iOS and laptop reviews, mobile computing, video games, and tech culture. He has previously written for both mainstream and technology enthusiast publications including Wired, Esquire.com, Men's Journal, and Maxim, and regularly appears on TV and radio talking tech trends.
See full bio